We said the original, desk-sized Dyson Air Multipler is an opulent but fantastic feat of engineering and excess, one that you'd feel guilty for purchasing but love afterwards. The Dyson AM03 is the same, but might be more justifiable.

Dyson's newest invention, a window fan with no blades, is the most opulent, most eye-catching…
Read more Read more

The Price

$450

The Concept

I don't want to repeat the original review too much, but the technology is the same. The guts of the fan, located in the base, sucks in air from the bottom and shoots it out of the front rim of the circular "fan" portion. The resulting airflow draws in wind from the back of the fan to accelerate the generated air speed 18 times, thus rivaling, or perhaps even beating, traditional some fans.

What's New

The main difference between this and the smaller $300 model is the size. The larger fan accommodates larger rooms and can drive more air, like how a Lincoln Navigator can hold more corpses in the trunk than a Honda Civic. The same benefits from the old model remain: no buffeting, which is stuttering of air caused by the spin of the blades in normal fans, and the ability to stick your head or other appendages through without worry. The AM03 also can be adjusted upwards and downwards, forwards and backwards with the new pivoting system.

So why would I want this?

Room-sized fans are traditionally both large and ugly, giving you unpleasant reminders of sitting in a sweaty gym on a Saturday, suffering through an SAT with a few hundred other teens. The Dyson AM03, although large, is definitely not ugly, and definitely not as loud as those giant monstrosities. That's not to say that it's quiet, but it's definitely not annoyingly loud.

The larger Dyson fan will be able to act as a room circulator well, especially when you use the included remote to adjust speeds and on/offness from a distance. The breeze is pleasant—not harsh—and feels more natural than traditional fans somehow.

One side of my house seems to get a nice cool breeze at night, while the room I sleep in does not. Placing the Dyson on the breeze side, next to an open window, allows me to draw in cool air naturally, starting a current of air that chills the room without AC during the summer. I used to do this with a normal fan, but the height of the Dyson matches the height of the window nicely, plus the non-buffeting way that it blows air makes for a better sensation.

But you haven't told me why I'd buy this yet

This is true, and it's also something you kind of have to decide for yourself. These Dyson Air Multiplier fans are the essence of a luxury product. You can get the equivalent of the AM03 (standing fan) and AM02 (tower fan) for something around 1/6 of the price of Dyson's equivalents, and the Dyson is only a few percentage points higher in functionality.

But perhaps other than the style benefit, you have a safety one. When you're getting into the large, room-sized fan space, you get the worry of having random small objects, not to mention your own hair, get caught in the blades. Maybe I'm only paranoid about this because my parents kept drilling this into me as a kid, but having a fanless solution eliminates any worry of having your scalp torn out because you accidentally placed your head too close to the back of a fan.

What's that worth to you? Six times the asking price of a normal fan? Perhaps. I do know that one of the first things I did while testing the fan was to stick my head through it. [Dyson]

A+ design

Super safe for homes with little children, unless said little children are strong enough to knock over the fan